"Taxpayers are paying for public posts for those who absconded and carried out a coup d'état," says Inés Arrimadas

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29 January 2019 11:58 AM

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ACN | Barcelona

The leader of the opposition in Catalonia, Inés Arrimadas, has criticized the latest meetings between the Spanish and Catalan governments, with Spain's 2019 budget and the independence debate as a backdrop.

Also head of the unionist Ciutadans party, Arrimadas said that the pro-independence forces are "asking for privileges" in the talks. "What they are negotiating is their impunity and doing whatever they want," she said.

"Does anyone think that they are negotiating social spending?" she asked.

Government "covering" exiled leaders

In an interview with the Antena 3 TV outlet, Arrimadas also blamed the Catalan government for "covering" the leaders in exile.

"Does anyone think that [the Catalan and Spanish governments] are negotiating social spending?"

Inés Arrimadas · Leader of Ciutadans in Catalonia

"The problem with them leaving is not only that they have absconded, but we taxpayers are paying for public posts for those who absconded and carried out a coup d'état," she added.

The former Catalan agriculture minister is now the government representative before the EU in Brussels, while the former culture head is now leading the government's culture projects of international scope, also from Belgium.

"Flight risk" of jailed officials

The day after the Spanish Supreme Court rejected freeing the jailed leaders ahead of their trial for "flight risk," Arrimadas said it is "normal" that the judges should consider this risk, taking into account that some of their former cabinet colleagues fled right after the October 27, 2017 declaration of independence.